Drones close in on escaped Highland monkey on the run from wildlife park

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A monkey lacking for 3 days in the Scottish Highlands is being tracked by drones and seems to be making his means again to the wildlife park from which he escaped, specialists have stated.

The Japanese macaque vanished from the Highland Wildlife Park on Sunday, following in the footsteps of one other equally liberty-minded snow monkey which escaped the similar vacationer attraction in 2008.

He has since been noticed by awed locals who reside close to the park at Kingussie, with one resident of Kincraig describing it as a “once in a lifetime” expertise to see the monkey in their backyard – versus the enclosure he sometimes shares with 33 different macaques.

But with climate warnings in power on Wednesday, as forecasters warned of 85mph winds introduced by Storm Ingunn because it powers in direction of Norway, the seek for the lacking macaque continued, as drone sightings raised hopes the fugitive primate may very well be on his means again to the park.

Keepers had been in a position to comply with the macaque – now being dubbed “Kingussie Kong” – for 45 minutes on Tuesday utilizing drones, which confirmed him roaming beneath bushes and sitting in undergrowth.

“Unfortunately, he wasn’t in a position where we were confident we could bring him in safely but he is making his way closer to the park,” stated Keith Gilchrist, residing collections operations supervisor at Highland Wildlife Park.

“Our team will be out again today but given the high winds we won’t be able to fly the drones but will be using thermal imaging cameras. We’re continuing to ask locals to please bring any obvious potential food sources like bird feeders or food waste inside.”

In the drone footage, the monkey was solely round 300 metres north of the entry to the park, which has efficiently bred Japanese macaques. Also often known as snow monkeys, they’re the most northerly residing non-human primate, in response to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

One couple who noticed the monkey in their again backyard at the weekend described the expertise as “so surreal”.

Carl Nagle, 49, and his accomplice, Tiina Salzberg, 50, noticed the monkey from their patio doorways in Kincraig close to Kingussie on Sunday morning, because it nibbled on the nuts in ther hen feeder and perched on their backyard fence for round quarter-hour.

Ms Salzberg stated: “We were watching in awe as it’s so displaced to see a Japanese snow monkey in your garden in a village in the middle of nowhere. It was absolutely wild, we were both elbowing each other trying to get the other one out of the way so we could get the best video and camera angles.

“It was incredible, I’m sure once in a lifetime.”

Additional reporting by PA